Shrinking Violet

Latest posts by Shrinking Violet

I wonder if you have planted them upside-down Rosie? It seems counter-intuitive, but the depression in the tuber is actually the top of it, and the rounded side is the base. They also don't like being planted too deeply, so worth trying again. The tubers can be dried off and used each year, but they are a bit on the tender side, so planting them out in April may not help, I would suggest planting them in the early spring either indoors or under glass in a greenhouse (which I have done successfully) and then, as they come into growth harden them off before placing them outside.

I haven't grown them for a few years tbh so maybe someone else has different experiences/ideas.

Oh - is she the Sultry One with sidelong glances at the camera? Coo - I didn't know there were famous people on this board! I feel touched by greatness (and a desire to eat whatever yumminess is being cooked up ).

Verdun - are you sure you don't mean cookery progs? As soon as you blink, there's another one or three in the schedules. How to Cook. Do You Want to Cook. Can you Cook? Can you-look-sultry-at-the-camera and Cook? Is there Life After Cooking? etc etc etc etc etc etc etc

Verdun - I've done that successfully in the past. Trouble is, these pots are (because of the move) multi-planted with spring bulbs. So I've taken the obviously damaged bits away for destruction, picked out the grubs I could see and drenched the rest - but put the affected pots in quarantine until I can deal with them!

Thank goodness I did plant some daffs, crocus and tulips in pots - this garden is a desert so far as spring bulbs are concerned! (But all the more of a blank canvas for me to do with as I please).

Hooray! A "window" in the weather meant I could get outside and clear a few bits and pieces and measure out exactly where my new shed and greenhouse will go. (It's a new-to-me garden, so lots of changes to be made).

And now I've done it! I've only gone and ordered my greenhouse! It's small-ish (5 x 6) which I a good thing, or I'd be tempted to do too much (we've down-sized both house and garden - and now down-sized the GH too). I can't wait to get started.

All the plants that I brought in pots from my previous garden (cuttings, divisions etc) are doing fine - except for two heucheras. And guess what has got them? Only the wretched vine weevil! Other pots seem ok - drenched with Provado as a precaution.

This year they have "named" storms. Next year (I have it on good authority ) every low that crosses the Atlantic will be named according to strength of predicted intensity eg Abigail1, Abigail 2. Brian 1. Brian 2. Brian 3. Christobel 1. Christobel 2 - well, you get the picture. Gawd help us when they get to Zaccharia 10! (Time to build an ark).

Thankyou Pansy. It was lovely but getting too large for me to cope with. We have moved, downsized the house and the garden. Looking at my old photos brings mixed feelings - it was lovely, and I put my heart and soul into it. But - being realistic, as age creeps up on me, I know it would become a burden rather than a pleasure.

I was a guardian of that space for 17 years. I just hope that the new owners love it as much as I did, and develop it (or keep it!)

Tetley - I think that you either didn't have enough of the floats, or hadn't clipped them together securely since, once in place, they can't be caught by the wind, they can't skid off in the way you describe, and perhaps you hadn't had enough to cover the whole of the pond. A few round the edges will be worse than useless - the whole of the pond covered will mean that the netfloats are secure and the heron are deterred. Well, that's what happened for us. And our pond was pretty large, and our fish (not Koi but 12"+) were pretty well protected.

When I had a large garden pond, the only deterrent that really, really worked was the use of Netfloats (you can find them on Google). From a distance they are all but invisible. Close up you are more aware of them, but gradually plants grow through them and minimise any visible intrusion.

They consist of a series of interlinking plastic grids which prevent the heron from getting at the fish. If they (the heron) try to step into the pond, the grid prevents them. If they try to stab at the fish, the grid prevents that, too.

After a while, the birds learn that there are easier ways of getting lunch, an b*gger off. Well - until the fledglings/young adults come a-calling. And I don't suggest that it's a cheap option if you have a large pond. But I can honestly say that it worked!

In the summer, when the heron had stopped breeding and food was more plentiful elsewhere, we had virtually no problem from their visits - and that despite being geographically located mid-way between two heronries.